Rapist to remain on the streets

Man avoids jail after sentence breach

A CONVICTED rapist has been given another lifeline to remain in the community, avoiding jail yesterday after breaching his suspended sentence for the fourth time.

Jordon James Norris Smith pleaded guilty in the Toowoomba District Court to breaching his suspended sentence of three counts of rape after failing to report to authorities in the fourth quarter.

Smith was convicted in 2014 for raping three people known to him, with Crown prosecutor Shontelle Petrie arguing it would be a hard decision to not give him actual jail time for the offence. “We are in a difficult position here ... and he can’t (be released on immediate parole),” she said.

The court heard Smith had previously breached the same sentence by creating a Facebook account in a different name, but his barrister David Jones argued since being convicted his client had cooperat- ed fully with restrictions imposed on him.

“He complied with reporting conditions by reporting contact with children, reporting a new tattoo and reporting a new mobile number,” Mr Jones said.

“He has stopped drinking and there is no more drug use.”

Crown prosecutor Petrie told the court she believed there was no authority to further extend his suspended sentence given the nature of the offence and that the sentence had previously been extended.

Smith was let out from prison in 2015 after serving six months of a three-year jail term in custody.

Since his release, however, he has appeared before the courts three times for breaching his suspended sentence.

“You would think (the defendant) would have learned wouldn’t you,” Judge Craig Chowdhury said.

Judge Chowdhury ordered that the operational period of Smith’s suspended sentence be extended until March 2019.